European Funding for Public Transport

The various programmes are funded from a number of funds which include the European Regional Development Fund (ERFD), European Social Fund (ESF), European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG).

The majority of European funding that Public Transport would be eligible to claim comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Current programmes in which Public Transport has an interest are:

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE PROSPERITY (BSP)

Priority 1 - Economic Growth and Competitiveness.
Measure 6b - Roads and Transport (Transport)

PEACE II FUNDING

Priority 1 - Economic Renewal.
Measure 1(d) - Business Competitiveness

INTERREG IIIA

Priority 2 - Supporting infrastructure and the Physical Environment.
Measure 1 Inter-Regional Economic Infrastructure

Contacts:

Mrs Jackie King
Tel: 028 90540624
Email: Jacqueline.King@drdni.gov.uk

Mr Billy McLarnon
Tel: 028 90540603
Email: Billy.McLarnon@drdni.gov.uk

Useful websites detailing EU matters include:

• The DEPARTMENT of FINANCE & PERSONNEL EU Website
• The EU website
• The SPECIAL EU PROGRAMMES BODY website
• The European Commission Office in Northern Ireland

EU Directives on Railways:

The decline of the rail industry across Europe has been mirrored by an increase in congestion levels as road and air transport continue to grow. Aside from the delays and pollution created by such congestion, the economic cost is also significant - approximately 1 % of GO? of the EU each year according to European Commission figures.

Directives 91/440EC, 95/18EC, and 95/19EC are the first in a series designed to revitalise the railways and take forward the creation of an integrated European railway area. The 3 Directives have been implemented in Northern Ireland by the Railway Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 (S.R. 2003 No 535) .The regulations are modelled on the GB Regulations introduced in the rest of the UK in 1998 (The Railways Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1340)). These regulations will remain in force until new regulations to implement the 'First Railway Package' are made. This is expected to happen later in 2005.

The Second Railway Package

The European Commission adopted on 23 January 2002 a new package of measures (The Second Railway Package) to revitalise the railways by rapidly building an integrated European railway area. The five measures unveiled are based on the guidelines set out in the recent White Paper on transport and aim at greater safety, interoperability and opening of the rail freight market. To give strong impetus to this process, the Commission has also proposed establishment of a European Railway Agency to steer the technical work on safety and interoperability.

The Third Railway Package.

The European Commission adopted on 3 March 2004 its third railway package containing measures to revitalise the European railways. The package consists of a Communication, four legislative measures and a Working Document on an extended impact assessment for the gradual opening up of the market for international passenger services.

Interoperability

Interoperability refers to the removal of mainly technical barriers to the supply of equipment and the through running of trains on 'TEN' lines (Trans European Network). The TEN line in Northern Ireland runs from the border with Republic of Ireland to Belfast and on to Larne. There are two current Directives on Interoperability with a third in the pipeline.

Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system (72KB).

The aim of this Directive is to establish the conditions to be met in order to achieve interoperability within Community territory of the trans-European high-speed rail system. The Directive has been transposed accross the UK by The Railways (Interoperability) (High-Speed) Regulations 2002.

Council Directive 2001/16/EC on the interoperability of the conventional rail system (81kb)

adopted on 19 March 2001, like that on the high-speed system, introduces Community procedures for the preparation and adoption of TSIs and common rules for assessing conformity to these specifications.

The EU Railway Safety Directive (RSD)

The EU Railway Safety Directive (RSD)(232KB) requires Member States to create a regulatory framework for rail safety and a Safety Authority. The RSD will be implemented separately here and in Great Britain. In Northern Ireland the RSD will be implemented by the new set of regulations called The Safety Management Regulations for Railways (Northern Ireland) and the Safety Authority will be the Department for Regional Development.

As in GB the proposed new regulations will also include aspects of existing GB regulations (which have not been introduced in Northern Ireland). These are:-

1. The Safety Critical Works Regulations;
2. The Approval of Plant & Equipment Regulations; and the
3. Railway (Safety Case) Regulations.

In GB the above 3 regulations will be revoked and combined into one set of regulations. The intention here and in GB is to create a single set of regulations that will insure the continued safety on GB (and NI) railways. These proposed NI Regulations will go out to consultation in 2005.

Trans European Network System (TENS)

Railways:

The Trans European Network (TENs) is assigned to existing or planned transport routes. These sections can then be built with EU support to harmonise European standards. The TENs programme is managed at a UK level by the Department for Transport (DfT - formerly DTLR). Public Transport Performance Division manages all applications for TENs funding, the monitoring and reporting of projects.

Contacts:

Mrs Jackie King
Tel: 028 90540624
Email: Jacqueline.King@drdni.gov.uk

Mr Billy McLarnon
Tel: 028 90540635
Email: Billy.McLarnon@drdni.gov.uk

For further information visii Trans-European Transport Network TEN-T website